I Capture the Castle

When I was young (that is, sometime before college, I can't remember exactly when) I read a book about a poor family that lived in an old deserted castle. In this book there was definitely a stepmother and possibly a girl who writes. But I think that book was probably not I Capture the Castle, because I don't think I would have liked this book very much when I was young, and also as I was reading it I didn't recognize anything. After I read it, my memories of the other book started to take on a tinge of this book, but that proves nothing. Perhaps there are two books with some similar elements. Or perhaps when I remember the book I read so long ago I am conflating more than one book.

Whatever I might have felt when I was younger, I did enjoy this book now. Looking back, I'm not sure the diary conceit quite worked for me, and it was maybe a bit slow until the end, when it seemed like everything happened all at once, but I did enjoy the characters and the journey through the book.

But when I read something like this, I always wonder why anyone would want to fall in love.